Insanity. The Controlled Substances Act–a federal law–states explicitly that marijuana has no medicinal uses. It is therefore outlawed for every purpose throughout the USA.
Yet, the Veteran’s Adm., part of the federal government, is now going to allow patients to use MM in states where it is legal without consequence to their continued eligibility for other pain relief. From the story:
The Department of Veterans Affairs will formally allow patients treated at its hospitals and clinics to use medical marijuana in states where it is legal, a policy clarification that veterans have sought for several years. A department directive, expected to take effect next week, resolves the conflict in veterans facilities between federal law, which outlaws marijuana, and the 14 states that allow medicinal use of the drug, effectively deferring to the states. The policy will not permit department doctors to prescribe marijuana. But it will address the concern of many patients who use the drug that they could lose access to their prescription pain medication if caught.
Nobody “prescribes” marijuana because it is a federally controlled substance and federal law won’t permit it. Doctors write letters, which is totally unstructured and means there is no effective regulatory control.
The VA’s action is sending a strong message that MM clearly has legitimate medical uses. And I think that is the importance of this story. One arm of the government is stating, in effect, that the CSA’s finding is factually and scientifically wrong, and that therefore, they are not going to prevent patients from using it where otherwise legal. It is a real rebuke, it seems to me.
Which means the proper course, the principled course, is to change the federal law.
But because President Obama and the Congress are too cowardly to promote such a change for fear they will be called soft on drugs, as if the American people aren’t capable of distinguishing between medicinal and recreational use, we end up in a vicious cycle: The law is factually wrong and so it is increasingly flouted. This, in turn, breeds disrespect for the rule of law generally, as it promotes ad hoc actions to surmount the federal wrongheadedness, such as state medical marijuana laws. These state MM laws then are used as a cover for recreational distribution. This leads to increased pot smoking to get high–the very activity that the CSA is trying to stiffle by wrongly listing marijuana a schedule 1 drug. In other words, the law’s sheer pigheadedness and lack of principle denies suffering people a proper palliative agent as, ironically, it opens the door to easier recreational use.
I repeat: Insanity.
July 24th, 2010 | 6:00 am
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Vince Humphreys, Rachel Alderman. Rachel Alderman said: Veterans Administration Proves Lie of Controlled Substances Act on … http://bit.ly/cBPyIx [...]
July 24th, 2010 | 7:10 am
Insanity? No, Mr. Flexthics: I think you mean INANITY, as in the following quote:
“But because President Obama and the Congress are too cowardly to promote such a change for fear they will be called soft on drugs, as if the American people aren’t capable of distinguishing between medicinal and recreational use….”
Funny, but I never heard Mr. Flexthics criticize George W. Bush (a confirmed alcohol abuser) for being “soft on drugs.” But then, what can you expect from a Republican shill?
Wesley J. Smith Reply:
July 24th, 2010 at 9:06 am
It’s time for a more respectful tone, HW. Or go away.
I did criticize Bush for this. Now, you can either agree with me that the CSA should be changed, disagree, or somewhere in between.
July 24th, 2010 | 10:40 am
Wes: “But because President Obama and the Congress are too cowardly to promote such a change for fear they will be called soft on drugs”
Yes, horrible of them to stifle all the Republican initiatives to make this change.
This, like immigration law and health care reform, is one of those no-win situations the obstructionist conservatives love to create for Obama and the Democrats.
They’d love it if Obama would try to loosen up the CSA, because as Wes said, they could then portray the Democrats as a bunch of potheads.
And if he doesn’t, then he takes flack from the likes of Wes. Hey, I could even say, Obama won’t let veterans have the medicine they need? Why does Obama hate soldiers!?
When I thought about it, I realized putting the enforcement in the hands of the states is a pretty effective compromise. The states are free to loosen up the law for legitimate medical purposes, but the feds retain their authority to step in if the states mess up. Which, again according to Wes, they’ve already started to do in California.
July 24th, 2010 | 10:46 am
padraig: It isn’t partisan. Dems are in control and are the ones primarily claiming to support MM. So, they should do something about it.
I disagree that the current system works. It leads to chaos. And MM can be assaulted any time the Feds desire. How can you support that?
Why not do it right? Slouching toward a better policy is harmful in many ways.
If the Reps take over Congress in November, I’ll chide them too about this matter.
July 24th, 2010 | 1:13 pm
Wes: “If the Reps take over Congress in November, I’ll chide them too about this matter.”
You didn’t chide them from 2000-2008, I doubt you’ll start now.
Wesley J. Smith Reply:
July 25th, 2010 at 12:24 am
padraig: But you are so very, very wrong. Here’s an article I wrote for the SF Chronicle about this matter in 2007. http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/12/02/INLSTK07H.DTL
July 24th, 2010 | 1:59 pm
What the VA is doing is deferring to the states to regulate medical practice. You know, federalism. What the conservatives say they are for… until they aren’t.
July 24th, 2010 | 10:37 pm
I think that it is wrong for anyone to accuse Wesley of having some kind of political agenda against Obama. I’m sure that if he’s following his heart and mind as what he truly believes is right and if he finds out in the future that he’s wrong, I’m sure that he’ll be the first one to correct his mistake.
Please be patience and who knows, he might eventually prove to all his readers that political coercion is truly the last thing on his mind.
Peace
July 25th, 2010 | 8:04 am
Victor writes: “I think that it is wrong for anyone to accuse Wesley of having some kind of political agenda against Obama.”
I’ll try to formulate a reply after I’ve stopped laughing.
July 25th, 2010 | 10:51 am
Thanks for the link, Wes, nice article. Although I don’t see any direct accusation against W like you did against Obama, even though at the time of the article (2007) W was a lame duck and could have “Executive Ordered” such a move with no political ramifications.
Still, that mostly lets you off the hook. But the conservatives and Republicans would still pillory Obama for any loosening up of marijuana legislation.
FWIW, I’d like to see the law changed as well, I just have a problem with the conservatives always challenging the Democrats to take on the hard tasks and then carping from the sidelines.
Wesley J. Smith Reply:
July 25th, 2010 at 11:21 am
It was more direct before editing. I think I also wrote a piece mentioning McCain, Hillary, and Obama at some point on the same issue. They’re all wrong on this. I think it is a winning issue for the politician with guts to take it on.
July 26th, 2010 | 10:00 am
Wes: “I think it is a winning issue for the politician with guts to take it on.”
Not if Fox News has anything to say about it.
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